I’m still working on self improvement, and when I stumbled upon this book, I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Most “self-help” books are about communicating on a personal emotional level, this book is different on my journey because it talks on a broader scientific scale. Throughout the book there are tons of case studies (properly footnoted too!) that provide the revelations necessary to break down old paradigms and have a more conscious reaction to life.

A major theme in this book, is that the subconscious is there to help make our lives run smoother. It is not like the Freudian days, where subconsciousness was the place things were suppressed, but it is the place were we can automatically respond to stimuli.

I’d definitely recommend the book with just a fair warning that the author tends to write in long winded run on sentences. Granted, he’s got a great sense of humor, but it def isn’t a book to read out loud. haha

An excerpt from the chapter on self:

As the psychologist Jonathan Heidt put it, there are two ways to get at the truth: the way of the scientist and the way of the lawyer. Scientists gather evidence, look for regularities, form theories explaining their observations, and test them. Attorneys begin with a conclusion they want to convince others of and then seek evidence that supports it, while also attempting to discredit evidence that doesn’t. The human mind is designed to be both a scientist and an attorney, both a conscious seeker of objective truth and an unconscious, impassioned advocate for what we want to believe. Together these approaches vie to create our worldview.

After reading all the studies, examples, revelations, etc, it was really nice to see the author end on a note promoting a positive self image. Which, ties in with the self-help journey I’ve been on.

Mlodinow says, “In fact, studies show that the people with the most accurate self-perceptions tend to be moderately depressed, suffer from low self-esteem, or both. An overly positive self-evaluation, on the other hand is normal and healthy.”

Imagine that, fifty thousand years ago, anyone in their right mind looking toward the harsh winters of northern Europe would have crawled into a cave and given up. Women seeing their children die from rampant infections, men watching their women die in childbirth, human tribes suffering from drought, flood, and famine must have found it difficult to keep courageously marching forward. But with so many seemingly insurmountable barriers in life, nature provided us with the means to create an unrealistically rosy attitude about overcoming them–which helps us do precisely that.

Before catching you up with some tropical truth, a little bit of background on this song. Anna King was a back up singer for James Brown. After a while, she decided to come out with her own album, and with some help of James Brown, “Back to Soul” was born. This track Mama’s got a bag of her own is something we can all relate with.

Having things decided for you can be nice, but independence is better. In my own personal case, independence is A LOT better 🙂

A while back I decided to change my life around.

From the age of 7-23 ish, I was severely depressed. Depression seemed programmed in my soul. It seemed as inescapable as the need to breathe. It seemed to be the only way….

Between suicide attempts and self mutilation, my interactions with every day life were forced and fake. I tried so hard to not let my pain show.

Something I’ve learned in recent years is how important motives are. You could have the same out come on paper, but if the motives are off, so are the internalized results.

Example, You give a homeless person $20 bucks.

Motivation #1) You “see” their pain, you “feel” their pain, and you don’t want them to be rejected by yet another person at the light. So you give them a 20. Afterwards, you are left with that sad feeling, still thinking life isn’t fair, and maybe that you should’ve kept that 20…

Motivation #2) You are feeling good, you’re feeling generous, you know that there is some freedom behind not having a 9-5 or a mortgage, and you give them $20 because you think, hey, I bet they could enjoy some food, alcohol, or whatever.

This different process of thinking, is all self-made. Humans are capable of SO MUCH!! Just scan the internet, pay attention the next time you’re out and about, etc. I.E., there’s a guy without arms that drives to work, where he engineers cars. There’s people who pull out of destructive situations and totally rock it. Rags to riches style.

If you don’t know anyone who’s improved their own lives, then maybe you should meet new people. Seriously, they’re out there. Plus it’s great to surround yourself with positive happy people. Energies are contagious. True story. All those negative thoughts keeping you back, well they’re just echos of other people’s thoughts. You can go back and pin point them all, or you could just start from scratch and replace them with more happy productive thoughts. Either way, depression is draining, and ain’t nobody got time for that 😉

So, you may be wondering, what’s all this getting to…

Well, last March (2013) I quit my call center job, to pursue self-employment and autonomy. I was learning about real estate investing and saw a way to make it happen.

On the journey to close a real estate deal, I discovered this need for traveling notaries. As it turns out, people need notaries to come to them, and will pay a decent price. So, I started my DBA, Austin Mobile Notary Public

It’s worked out great, I get to set my own hours, sleep in some, take trips, and spend quality time with my lover 🙂

Bonnaroo!!

While all this was happening, I decided to put up a craigslist ad offering to teach anyone what I’ve learned about real estate investing. Then something awesome happened. One of the people who responded, used the techniques I shared and we went 50/50 on a transaction, and we each walked away with $5,000 in less than 30 days. It was so smooth, and a win-win for everyone involved!

I may not have stuck to my literal self help challenge, but I have tried to keep myself as on track as possible. It’s all about doing your best. And remember, as Miguel Ruiz points out in his book The Four Agreements, our best changes from day to day.

I wish everyone the peace and comfort of knowing how much power they have in their own lives.

Like this:

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit defeated and lost. I know the kind of life I want, and I know that to be truly happy, you have to make peace with your present life. So after talking it out with my lover, I was able to end the day with the peace I needed.

Today, I woke up in a great mood. The kind where you do a mini dance around the house while getting ready. On the agenda today was getting my Notary Public commission official, driving around neighborhoods for potential fix and flips, and renting out my car.

Since, I don’t have a full time job, but have full time bills, I posted my car on this website called . Basically, they prescreen people, you set the rates, and people rent out your car. Today, I was renting out my car for the weekend to a couple that was flying into town. We made arrangements for me to leave the car at the airport for them to pick it up.

My plan was to park the car and take the bus back home. The short term parking was full, so I parked in the long term lot, not having a clue where the bus stop was. So, I asked the parking lot shuttle guy to drive me to the bus stop.

Well the guy let out a sigh, and reluctantly agreed to take me close to the stop. A whole bunch of people hopped on the shuttle too, and when he dropped them off at the terminal, he would unload their bags. Pretty typical stuff. No one tipped him though, and he was saying “thanks alot” after they’d get off w/o tipping him. After all of that, he was like, just go down the stairs and the bus will be there. So I tipped him $5 and he instantly warmed up, touched my shoulder, and said “That really means alot to me, thank you“.

In my head, no big deal. He was helping me out.

Here’s what I believe to be the happy karma moment: I get to the bus stop, and a guy that just exited the bus comes up to me and hands me a day pass. I wasn’t the only waiting at the stop either. Talk about awesome. My phone stopped working , so I was in the middle of trying to figure out how the routes worked when he gave me the pass. As it turned out, I was going to need a day pass because of the several bus route to get home.

attitude

Anywho. Moral of the story. Don’t ever hesitate to give. Life will get your tab 😉

Like this:

Life is just one constant reaction after another. A Domino effect reflected in our day to day experiences.

At the beginning of this week, several people felt the power of nature. Unfortunately, this was not Moore’s first experience with a tornado.

Life is so precious. Too precious to be doing anything but loving your life.

I’m thankful I had the opportunity to quit the j.o.b. and find a work from home position that I enjoy. Without this opportunity I wouldn’t have been able to have gone up to Oklahoma last week to take care of my mom.

It’s been over 4 years since I moved away from Oklahoma and being an only child, my mom has had a tough time without me. She’s always saying I need to take off some time and spend a week with her.

Well since I have this new gig, and she was going to have knee surgery, the dominos played out. I was able to spend last week, helping my mom around the house, making her food, etc. It was a great feeling knowing I could offer my time.

So Saturday night the storms started acting up. Our power went out shorty after watching tables and chairs spin around in the backyard. I used to not let tornado warnings bug me. But things are different now. I’m no longer depressed, and I love my life and cherish a lot more than I used to. So the point is, while the storms were acting crazy I was able to be there for my parents. Since we were all together without any power I decided to play an audiobook I have on my phone- “Power of positive thinking”.

It was a really peaceful- one of a kind moment.

My parents and I talked about positive thought after it finished and the lights came back on at the same time! More dominos..
I left the next day, and as most of you know, Monday a devastating tornado hit Moore Oklahoma.

I have an uncle who lives out there and luckily enough he’s Okay.

These things do get us thinking about the vulnerability of life.

I know I’m not alone. There’s something more to being on this planet than just eat sleep work. So many people wanna break free from that pattern. Why don’t they? Are they waiting for life to make the decision for them?? There’s no point in not living your life happily.

To wrap things up:
Yes, this self help experiment is worth it.
#thankful

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About Me

Hi! I'm Nikole and am an active Day Dream Believer! May sound silly, but it's true. Life is very beautiful and just begging for us to notice how lovely it is! I hope to be able to share all the random moments of "Tropical Truths" I encounter, along w/quotes, thoughts, you name it!!
Until then,
Love Life!!

There's many way to live life, and I'm on a journey to Love Life! I do my best to think positively and am journalling my self-help experiment along the way. If you're the type that likes to see people do it first before trying it, then you're more than welcome to follow along as I find the tropical truth to life.